PHS Reads!

There are so many amazing things coming up in the next few moths, I can hardly stand it!

The first is something I have personally been thinking about for some time and just decided to start and see what happens.

Not long ago I was listening to a news story (I believe on NPR, but all of the search in the world has not helped me find it) about a school that turned around a lot of its problems through creating an intentional, institutional focus on graduation and post-high-school decisions.  From the moment freshmen walked in the door the staff--teachers, admin, custodians, coaches, everyone--encouraged talk about how classes were doing, were kids on track to graduate, and what was the plan for afterward.

I spend a lot of time in the library and around books and reading material, so I personally am immersed in such an atmosphere, but many people aren't. So the question is, how can we create a culture of reading? Teachers reading and talking about their books. Students reading and talking about what they read.  Perhaps even having people read the same things to be able to talk about it.

So we started PHS Reads!  I printed signs for all of the high school staff and they hung them by their doors.  This way, students know what teachers are reading.  They can talk about books and get ideas.  But more than that, they can know that teachers read. They read non school stuff!

When some hesitated (What if I am judged on what I read?), this was a good chance to go over the mantra; repeat after me: All reading is good reading.
Books. 
Magazines. 
Newspapers. 
Romance. Westerns. 
50 Shades of Grey or A Tale of Two Cities. 
John Grisham or Dave Eggers.
For every reader there is a book. 
Hard copy or eReader.
Audiobook. 
First time through or reading for the 50th time. 
All reading is good reading.